Chinese startup Zhipu AI has unveiled a free AI agent, AutoGLM Rumination, capable of conducting in-depth research, planning trips, and writing reports. Reuters reports this, citing a statement from the company’s CEO, Zhang Peng.

The digital assistant is powered by the company’s proprietary models, including GLM-Z1-Air for reasoning and the “fundamental” GLM-4-Air-0414. According to the company, the former rivals DeepSeek’s R1 in performance, operates eight times faster, and requires only 1/30 of the computing resources.

In March, the new Chinese AI model Manus gained attention both domestically and internationally for its ability to effectively handle a wide range of practical tasks.

The assistant is positioned as a “general-purpose AI agent” for booking trips, analyzing stocks, comparing insurance policies, and performing various other tasks. The project is backed by Tencent-supported company Butterfly Effect.

While Manus charges users up to $199 per month, AutoGLM Rumination will be available for free on the company’s website and mobile app.

In March, Zhipu AI attracted attention after securing 300 million yuan ($41.5 million) in investments.

In July 2024, the company introduced an AI-based video generation model called Ying.